From public statements to missing training – Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer exits

Cristiano Ronaldo is not back at Manchester United training today following the bombshell news that he wants to leave the club.

The 37-year-old was set to join the rest of the Red Devils’ international players who were on duty last month in reporting back at Carrington.

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But Ronaldo cited family reasons in his absence and talks over his immediate future with new United boss Erik ten Hag are now on hold.

Ronaldo still has one year left on his Old Trafford contract, but talkSPORT regular Mark Goldbridge did not begrudge him for wanting to leave.

United remain adamant the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is not for sale, and are prepared to play hardball with the likes of Chelsea this summer.

However, they might find Ronaldo usually gets his way when looking for a fresh challenge as evidenced by the ways in which he’s left former clubs…

Sporting Lisbon

Ronaldo let his feet do the talking when he left Portugal as a teenager such was the obvious respect he had for his boyhood club.

His performance in a pre-season match against Man United in 2003 convinced Sir Alex Ferguson to bring him to the Premier League.

Portugal manager Fernando Santos was in charge of Sporting at the time and had just seen Ricardo Quaresma leave the club days before the friendly.

His spot against United was then taken by Ronaldo, who bamboozled John O’Shea on route to following Quaresma out of the door.

“I was his coach when he played against Manchester United,” Santos said in 2016. “I put him in the team and now I regret it.”

Ronaldo himself added to Sky Sports: “It was the perfect night, the perfect night. After the game, some of my team-mates said, ‘Listen, you’re going to go to Manchester, trust me!’”

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Manchester United

It was a different story by the time Ronaldo felt he was ready to leave Old Trafford the first time around with three years of rumours preceding his switch to the Bernabeu.

Following his controversial World Cup campaign in 2006, Ronaldo publicly said: “I think I should get out of Manchester.

“The circumstances are not right to keep playing in Manchester. In two or three days I will decide where to go.

“I always said I wanted to play in Spain. Nobody stood up for me at Manchester, although I did not do anybody any harm.”

However, Ferguson smoothed things over and Ronaldo remained at United only to express a further interest publicly in Madrid after winning the Champions League final in 2008.

United filed an ultimately fruitless tampering charge to FIFA over Madrid’s pursuit but did manage to hold onto their star man for one more season.

Ferguson memorably claimed he wouldn’t sell Real ‘a virus’ before Ronaldo stated in December 2008: “Whoever says (I want to go) is a liar.”

Six months later, Ronaldo sealed a then-world record move to Madrid.

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Real Madrid

Ronaldo spent nine glittering seasons in Spain before engineering a £105m move to Juventus – only this time through a transfer request.

Los Blancos president Florentino Perez revealed the club sanctioned the move after ‘listening to the wish and request expressed by the player’.

And Ronaldo later revealed a switch in their relationship convinced him to seek pastures new in Italy during an interview with France Football.

“I felt it inside the club, especially from the president, that they no longer considered me the same way that they did in the start,” he said.

“In the first four or five years there I had the feeling of being ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’. Less afterwards.

“The president looked at me through eyes that didn’t want to say the same thing, as if I was no longer indispensable to them, if you know what I mean.”

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Juventus

Only last summer was Ronaldo once again on the move after submitting a transfer request and missing training – seeing a link here…

Massimiliano Allegri told reporters at the time: “Cristiano Ronaldo told me yesterday that he wants to leave Juventus immediately.

“It’s true and confirmed. This is why he wasn’t training today and he’s not available for tomorrow’s match.”

Ronaldo had agreed personal terms with Man City before United swooped in to hijack the deal and re-sign their former star.

But what’s ominous for the Red Devils and potentially good news for Chelsea is the obvious pattern Ronaldo has of knowing exactly which club he’s going to join before publicly making his move…